Spicy Puppa — Restaurant in Venice

I am rarely compelled to write a negative review, but after dining here, I feel like I need to in order to warn other diners away from spending money and a precious evening of their trip here.

The food was extremely bland, with flavourless vegetables, underwhelming pasta dishes and sticky sauces that could have come from a jar. However, this was the least of the issues that we encountered.

We chose this restaurant partly because it states itself as being suitable for diners with allergens, and one of our party has a gluten allergy. As such we were pleased to see that there were multiple dishes which the menu stated were gluten free.

When ordering, we confirmed with the waiting staff that the squid was gluten-free and were reassured that it was.

However, when the dish came out, the squid were clearly battered in flour. We queried this with the waiting staff who said they didn’t know and told us to look at the menu and then brought us a bag of flour to look at. They were unable to confirm if the dish was gluten free and told us “not to risk it”. The diner then did not have a meal when the rest of us did (not that these meals were anything to brag about, they were tasteless).

When asking for the bill (as we wanted to leave after not enjoying the experience) I asked if we could negotiate any discount as the service and allergen issue were so poor. The response was that they wouldn’t charge us for the squid. We queried this as it was a dish that we were unable to eat. The response from the waiting staff, who became verbally very aggressive (at female diners) was that “they had cooked it for us and that we should therefore pay for it”.

This experience overall was the only negative dining experience we had in Venice, and with so many people spending such a limited amount of time in the city, I would deplore you not to waste your time, money and potential health if you...

Hello, I want to start off saying that I read the reviews on google before going to this restaurant and was very excited. I have been to Italy over 15 times and have family here so I know what to expect. I quickly became disappointed at this establishment. The wait staff was very nice but the food took forever to be ready, easily over an hour. Everyone around us was complaining about the wait. If the wait is worth it though then usually it’s ok but it sadly it was not. I ordered the cuddlefish with the ink sauce and I am not exaggerating when I say that there were 5 tiny pieces of meat, I mean honestly actually 5 pieces. Maybe to someone who doesn’t know, this would seem normal, but it is not. The lady next to me asked the waiter 3 times for ketchup, I asked once for ketchup for my fiancée.. sadly, no ketchup arrived for either tables.

I wanted to say everything above before mentioning this last piece because this is separate. After over an hour wait, my cuddlefish with the black ink was arriving, the server spilled the whole thing all over the table and myself. Ruining my shorts and my button up. The waiter did apologize, and I understand that accidents happen and I brushed it off, in hope of a delicious meal, which turned out to be disappointing instead. At the end of it when I asked for the check, the waiter asked if we wanted dessert on the house but at that point, the appetite was gone. I paid 50 euros for 5 small pieces of meat with ink, a fist size portion of pasta and definitely frozen french fries with no ketchup, as well as unwashable shorts and a button up. I suggest make a reservation somewhere else earlier in the day and not deal with this kind of...

There’s a restaurant that’s a few streets away from the instagram and TikTok worthy waterfront locations where the most popular restaurants congregate to provide endless cups of espressos and capuchinos and occasionally a decent meal from an overpriced menu. This restaurant is “Spicy Puppa”. Well-priced from $ to $$ for the budget conscious, it nonetheless provides a decent repertoire of the most popular Venetian dishes, including the reason I agreed to go have lunch there at all, Spaghetti in Squid Ink. We shared a Seafood Antipasti plate that included sardines marinated in sweet vinegar and draped with pickled slices of sweet onions, prawns, mussels, fish pate over sweet bread. My wife chose the Spaghetti Carbonara. For dessert and on our server’s insistence, my wife and I shared a serving of Tiramisu. We were both full to our gills (if we’re to remain on the seafood theme). The meal was heavenly, the cost was easy to stomach and our server “Valentina” was someone you could easily be on a first name basis after your first visit. She was as wonderful as the meal itself. I highly recommend you try this restaurant if you want to leave Venice with more than an...